Consider a Future with Nestlé as your Neighbour…

Sure, there’ll be new employment... Likely one part-time position will be created at the Middlebrook well.

Nestlé will pay about $5,000 in property taxes on the 5 acre lot. Of that sum, the Township will collect about $1300.

Centre Wellington will lose up to 1.6 million litres of groundwater every day, close to the amount of water used in all of Elora daily.

The Township’s search for a new water source west of Elora will be blocked due to a recommended 2 km well-interference setback zone.

We will be forced to locate future wells in areas where there is less reliable quality and capacity.

A township with a water issue offers no incentive for business to invest in that municipality. And we mean businesses that create jobs and pay taxes in the same community where they use water.

The dollar value of the yearly loss of this water to service growth translates into close to $2 million. $2 million the Township will lose in annual property taxes.

Consider the 40 water trucks per day each weighing 90,000 lbs! Roads designed to last 20 years will wear out in seven. The Township of Centre Wellington and the County will pay for all road and bridge repairs.

And...Suppose the Nestlé water extraction draws contamination into the aquifer? The Township assumes 100% of the risk.

What about the fee of $503.71 per million litres that Nestlé will pay? This is a levy; it covers only a fraction of the cost of administering the permit. Yes, The taxpayer pays the rest.

For Nestlé the water is free.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are you so worried about anyway?

Save Our Water wants a secure, long-term supply of water for our community and for the ecosystem, for generations to come. The population is slated to double in the Elora and Fergus area, and we see additional water taking for commercial exploitation as a serious and avoidable risk for our future. We believe water should be protected as a public trust.

Isn’t commercial water-taking just a drop in the bucket?

No. The amount proposed for extraction by Nestlé daily is almost the same amount of water used by the whole of Elora in a given day.

Isn’t there a vast supply of water in this area?

All of our municipal water comes from aquifers deep underground, not from rivers or lakes. Aquifers are recharged with rainwater over decades, and this is an uncertain and finite amount. There are studies underway now because evidence already shows there is a risk of water shortages. But the current studies will not identify the sources of water for the aquifers, nor the impacts of long-term water taking.

Who controls our water?

Taking large amounts of groundwater requires a permit from the provincial government. Exporting water is under the control of the federal government. Keeping water safe for drinking is the responsibility of the municipality acting on regulations set by the province. No one owns the water. Water is a resource shared by all living things.